Thursday

Mar 21, 2019 at 7:30 PMMar 22, 2019 at 6:31 AM

WELLFLEET — The Select Board has given its initial nod of support for the purchase of more than 200 acres of tidal flats off Indian Neck, after the town’s commercial shellfishing industry came forward with the idea.

At its meeting Thursday afternoon, the Select Board voted 3-1-1 to place an article on the April 22 annual town meeting warrant asking voters to approve buying the land. The board voted 4-0-1 to place the measure on the town election warrant.

But many details need to be finalized, the board members said. The board will continue its discussion on the subject Tuesday at a regular meeting. The Finance Committee is expected to discuss the proposed purchase on Wednesday.

“I still want to hear from town counsel,” said Select Board member Jerry Houk, who voted against placing the article on the town meeting warrant, but supported inserting the measure on the town election warrant.

Board member Justina Carlson abstained from both votes. Earlier in the meeting, Carlson said she had what appeared to be a conflict of interest with the proposal.

At a meeting attended by about 40 people, a show of hands indicated general support for the idea of protecting the land, although several people openly objected to the stated price of $3.4 million.

The private land is used by about a quarter to a third of the town’s commercial shellfish farmers and wild harvesters, who contribute to the town’s annual $6.3 million shellfish industry. The HDYLTA Realty Trust, which is composed of shellfish farmers, has owned the land since 1999 when the trust purchased it for $25,000 in the midst of a lawsuit over its ownership that reached the state Appeals Court. More recently, the trust has begun to sell off some of the flats at $20,000 an acre, and is considering breaking up what was once 254 acres in total into separate parcels for each trust member, the trust's attorney, Edward Englander, said Thursday.

The initials HDYLTA stand for “How Do You Like Them Apples,” Englander said.

Town Assessor Nancy Vail said Thursday that the trust’s two sales of acreage, both last year, have now given her a new basis for a property tax valuation that is on her to-do list for fiscal year 2020.

— Follow Mary Ann Bragg on Twitter: @maryannbraggCCT.

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